Everybody
by Cold Ember
Summary: Everybody needs somebody sometimes. Megan and Colby run into each other at a bar after the religious serial killer case. Friendship fic.


_**Everybody**_

_Everybody needs somebody sometimes. Megan and Colby run into each other at a bar after the religious serial killer case. Friendship fic._

Thanks to VanishingP2000 for the beta!_

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The last case had been hell. The torture had brought up bad memories for Colby as well as Megan. Now they had caught the guy and Don had agreed to let him stay on the team, so it had been a good day, all in all. But right now all he wanted was to sit back and have a few beers at the first bar he found on his way home.

That bar just happened to be a little Honky Tonk, not one of the really crazy ones, but not exactly a place to, say , meet the parents or something. Perfect. He pulled open the door and allowed the aroma of the bar to wash over him. The cigarette smoke, the smell of beer and burgers and other bar nourishments, the haze that hung around the heads of the patrons and the country song playing on the jukebox all reminded him of his favorite watering hole back in college. Except that when he was in college, Keith Urban wouldn't have been on the radio. But still, this song seemed to fit, really.

_So here you are now, nowhere to turn_

_It's just the same old yesterday_

He made for the bar, but paused when he saw a familiar figure sitting at the far end of the bar, staring into a vodka tonic. After a moments hesitation he made his way over to her. After what he'd seen during this last case, the way that the DOJ assignment was haunting her, the last thing that she needed tonight was to be drinking alone. She didn't look up when he sat down next to her and when he ordered a beer she just continued to stare a hole through her drink. She finally looked up when he touched her arm gently.

_You made a promise to yourself_

_That you were never gonna be this way_

"I'd ask if you were okay, but I already know the answer to that and it would be a stupid question. So, I'm just going to tell you that whatever you need to make it a little more okay, I'm here," Colby told her softly.

"Just being here is nice. Just…sit with me here and brood for a while, please," she said quietly and he nodded, taking a sip of his beer.

_And the only thing that you've ever known is to run_

_So you keep on drivin' faster into the sun_

They just sat there for several minutes, neither talking, just keeping each other company. Megan looked over at Colby and opened her mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again, deciding against it. But Colby had seen the movement out of the corner of his eyes and he turned to her and gave her a just spit it out look.

"It's just…do you have clearance to know exactly what I did for the DOJ?" she asked and when he nodded slightly she continued. "Can I just…tell you about it…sometime? Not tonight, but sometime?" she asked, almost timidly.

_But everybody needs somebody sometimes_

_Yeah, everybody needs somebody sometimes_

"Sure. Whenever you need to talk, I'll listen," Colby told her with a small, reassuring smile.

_You don't have to find your own way out_

_You've got a voice let it be heard_

"Thank you, Colby. It's nice to know that there is someone who will listen. And who I can actually tell. And that can…that can understand. I mean, I can't imagine what you went through, but I know that you've been through worse than I have."

"So, what, it's schadenfreude?" Colby asked her, smirking and she laughed.

_Just when it feels you're on a dead-end road_

_There's always somewhere left to turn_

"Would you be offended if I said yes?" Megan asked playfully.

"Naw, I'm okay with it. Might as well get _something _good from my pain!" he said with his trademark smart ass smirk firmly in place and Megan laughed, which was, of course, Colby's goal.

_So don't give up now you're so close to a brand new day_

_Yes you are_

_And if you just can't bear to be alone then I'll stay_

"Thanks Colby, for everything. For being here, for making me laugh. Just…Thank you. You're a good friend," Megan told him, smiling. The first real smile he had seen in a while from her.

_Cause everybody needs somebody sometimes_

_Yeah, everybody needs somebody sometimes_

"Yeah, well, that's up for debate," Colby said darkly, staring down into his beer, guilt coloring his features.

"Colby, look, I don't hold it against you. Don, he knew something was off, he kept watching the tapes, over and over and he's pretty much gotten over holding it against you. And David, well…David's getting there. It just…it really got to him, you know. I don't think he's mad at you so much as he's mad at himself. Pissed that he didn't trust you enough to see that you would never betray your country and your friends. He'll come around," Megan told him, giving his shoulder a quick squeeze.

_Well, maybe I've been too caught up _

_To see what you've been goin' through_

"Yeah, well, he's right to be pissed at me. And you know what; you really don't need to be hearing about my problems," Colby said as he ordered another beer.

"Yeah, well, helping you deal with your problems helps me deal with mine. It feels like I'm doing good and that gives me something other than my DOJ assignment to think about, so I'm going to psycho analyze you, okay?" Megan told him and he simply nodded, if delving into his screwed up mind was what helped her cope, so be it.

_All I can say is I'm here now_

_And everybody needs somebody sometimes_

_You know they do_

"I think that what it really is, is that neither one of you is willing to forgive yourselves. You, for not telling us that you were undercover and David for not giving you the benefit of the doubt even a little bit. I think that you both really need to just get over your guilt and sit down and talk. But we all know that isn't going to happen, so you've just got to give it time." Megan told him, in full profiler mode.

_Everybody needs somebody sometimes_

"Yeah, I know but…I just...I really screwed up a really great friendship. And I know that this is my fault. But I couldn't tell him. I mean, look at what happened to Kirkland. And what almost happened to me. If I had told him…that could have been him, too," Colby said, staring into his beer as if he was expecting the answer to life to pop out of the bottle top.

_Everybody needs somebody sometimes_

"It'll get better. I think he knows that you wished that you could have told him. But emotions aren't logical," Megan said sympathetically. "Just know that if you ever need to talk about it, I'm here for you."

"Right back at you." Colby told her, smiling, although he had absolutely no intention of telling her what it was like to be tortured. She already felt bad enough about what the DOJ had made her do, she didn't need to hear about what it felt like too.

They sat there for several more hours, talking and laughing and by the time that Colby dropped Megan off-he had only had 3 beers that night, and two of them had been in the first half hour-they were both feeling considerably less run down and more at ease. It was good to have someone to talk to.

_Everybody needs somebody sometimes_


End file.
